Need some suggestions, speaker upgrade on 2018 JL with Alpine premium sound system

[kkuntz01]

As the title states, I’ve got a 2018 JL with Alpine premium sound system that I’m looking to do a speaker upgrade on. I’ve got a blown speaker in the sound bar that I unfortunately couldn’t get replaced while it was still under the 3yr/36k warranty since the tech could not replicate the problem. As such I thought since I have to replace at least one speaker pair, I might as well replace/upgrade the speakers in the sound bar as well as the one units in the top of the dash. I know doing so might only yield a marginal improvement which I’m okay with.

That said I’ve been out of car audio upgrade game for some time. One of the last times I fudged around with car audio was installing a full sound system in my Grand Prix about 17 years ago. What are some direct fit speaker upgrade suggestions that won’t break the bank?

Thanks…

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[AcesandEights]

Crutchfield.com will let you add your vehicle, then show you speakers that are direct fit, or ones that have a small amount of trimming, etc. They also allow you to compare speakers so you can dial it in the way you want. They've been a good resource for me in the past.

 

[kkuntz01]

Crutchfield.com will let you add your vehicle, then show you speakers that are direct fit, or ones that have a small amount of trimming, etc. They also allow you to compare speakers so you can dial it in the way you want. They've been a good resource for me in the past.

Looks like I'll have to play around with that site some more. The few times I was on there, it was throwing out dozens of options that required customization to make work.

 

[jludave]

Looks like I'll have to play around with that site some more. The few times I was on there, it was throwing out dozens of options that required customization to make work.

A standard 4 inch or larger speaker will not fit without modification. This speaker will fit with the included bracket:

https://www.kicker.com/47KSC40

 

[Mx5red]

can I give you some advice? Unless you're really unhappy with the Alpine system, I would find a plug n play 4" and/or 3.5" to put in there depending on what's blown (assuming the 4" woofer)... and put some 3.5" in the dash while you're at it (super easy as well).
The knee pods are a pain in the butt. And the way the Alpine radio splits the signals, the sound bar speakers don't get much signal anyway.
For reference, I changed the dash and noticed a little improvement. Then I changed knee pods and SSV sound bar adapters and put 6.5"s in both spots. The sound was totally different, some frequencies too boomy and you can't equalize them very well with the 3 band EQ on the radio.
And, it was a lot of work to undo the knee pods, and permanently destroyed the sound bar so can't go back to stock there either.

Now, I'm going to install an amp with DSP to try to sort out all the channels and hopefully sound better, but that's not what I wanted to do. I wasn't that unhappy with the Alpine, just wanted a little better and I made it better and worse. Now I'm putting in way more work and money than I wanted to.
I wish I would've just put in dash speakers and left it!

Another thought - pick speakers with high sensitivity so they'll be audible with the stock amp. Expensive speakers usually have lower sensitivity and need more power to drive them and sound good. The kickers are easy, people also recommend some Kenwood, Infinity...

 

[kkuntz01]

It sounds like it may open a can of worms changing out the speakers with aftermarket speakers that won't really yield significant improvements unless I basically gut the factory system which I have no interest in doing.

I stumbled on a Mopar option ( 77KICK25AB ) that looks like it will work as a replacement for the 3.5" speakers which most seem to like.

Anyone know if there is a Mopar option for the 4" in the soundbar?

 

[jludave]

Anyone know if there is a Mopar option for the 4" in the soundbar?

There isn't. The only 4 inch speaker that will fit without any type of modification is the Kicker I linked to above.

 

[Mx5red]

My suggestion is push the fader all the way to the rear, and see how it sounds. Then decide if it’s worth spending money replacing those speakers.
The dash I’d say yes, plus they’re super easy to do.

 

[kkuntz01]

My suggestion is push the fader all the way to the rear, and see how it sounds. Then decide if it’s worth spending money replacing those speakers.
The dash I’d say yes, plus they’re super easy to do.

I've got a blown speaker in the sound bar so no matter what, one pair is getting replaced.

 

[Derek]

I have the Alpine SPV-65-jlt speakers in the sound bar along with a aftermarket Alpine head unit. The speakers sound great, very clear, but I was really impressed when I could do 80 on the highway with the top down, turn it up and it’s still clear (near its limits though)

 

[kkuntz01]

I have the Alpine SPV-65-jlt speakers in the sound bar along with a aftermarket Alpine head unit. The speakers sound great, very clear, but I was really impressed when I could do 80 on the highway with the top down, turn it up and it’s still clear (near its limits though)

I’m sure it’s great, but I’m long past spending crazy money on a car audio system. More so since the Jeep sits in the garage 6-7 days a week.

Home theater on the otherhand, that I can justify spending money on.

 

[kkuntz01]

So an update on this thread.

So a few months back I changed out the 3.5” speakers with the Mopar/Kicker upgrade in my sound bar believing they were blown as I was getting a rattling sound that sounded like a blown speaker. As luck would have it, Istill had the problem after changing them out. Kind of some annoying bullshit for a 4yo vehicle with less than 25k miles (and only 2500mi in the last 12mos), but not the least surprising for a Wrangler.

Afterwards I was talking with a friend, he mentioned having a similar issue with his and after pushing really hard on the speaker grille, it stopped. I fudged around doing the same on the occasions I would drive it and sure as shit it went a way, but when I released pressure, it returned. Thinking it was maybe the speaker grille, I dyna-matted the backside of the grille, and yet the problem persisted. After realizing the sound bar was the culprit behind the rattling I was hearing, I did some searching for solutions and came up with “jamming things into places I should not be doing so”, jamming foam weather strip between the sportbar and the sound bar. Thankfully that seems to have remedied that problem with the stereo sounding better.

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